Why are autism diagnoses rising? (Hint: it’s not an epidemic.)

Context over panic. Let’s talk about the rise in autism diagnoses

Let’s Start with a Conversation

If you’ve found yourself wondering what’s going on with the rising numbers of autism diagnoses — especially after hearing headlines about an “autism epidemic” — you’re not alone.

This is one of those topics that stirs up a lot for many in our community: confusion, fear, curiosity, even anger. And understandably so. For decades, autism was portrayed as something rare and tragic — something that stole children away from their families.

Now, many of us are discovering we’ve been Autistic all along — raising Autistic kids, working alongside Autistic colleagues, or slowly peeling back the layers of our own identities and realizing: Oh … this is me.

Many of us (though not all) embrace this as a valid identity — one we don’t feel needs to be cured.¹ Which is why these narratives can understandably activate our threat response, crowd in on our sense of safety, and spark our activism energy.

I’m a big context person. I find it grounding to step back — to understand th…